Blood, Tears and Gold
by Queen of Peasants
Summary: She was the light; he was the darkness. They say opposites attract. A story about making mistakes, seeking forgiveness, and discovering beauty. Sasuke/OC Ratings will probably change.
1. Chapter 1 - The Beginning and The End

**Blood, Tears and Gold**

_A Naruto fanfiction by Queen of Peasants_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I'd be rich and living a good life if I do. The title of the story, "Blood, Tears and Gold", is the title of a wonderful song by Hurts, an awesome duo. Do check them out.

_Update: Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the long wait. This story will be undergoing some massive changes and I hope you guys don't mind! The female lead was too much of a Mary Sue and I really don't like that. Thanks for sticking around!_

* * *

**Chapter 1 - The Beginning and The End**

_Dear citizens of Konohagakure,_

_My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm greatly honoured to stand here today as your seventh Hokage, leader of Konoha. Your support and faith in me is greatly appreciated, and I cannot find proper words to express the amount of gratitude I feel. This is a dream come true, and I would not have made it here without you._

_If we follow the routine of the traditional ceremony, I would have to read the village protocol now. But I find that unnecessary, even more unnecessary than the three minutes you have to wait for ramen to cook. You all know the protocol deep in your hearts, and I just became Hokage five minutes ago, so there hasn't been any changes made to the system yet. There will be changes made soon, of course, like how I plan to insert Sexy Jutsu into the Academy syllabus. Ouch! I'm just kidding, Tsunade granny!_

_Instead of reading that boring scroll of rules, I'm going to talk about dreams. Everyone has dreams. Mine came true today. Maybe yours will come true tomorrow. But our dreams are not important in this speech. We have a lifetime to achieve them. Some people never got that chance._

_I'm speaking of those who gave up their lives so we can stand where we are today. I'm speaking of those who threw away everything they had so we have a future. I'm speaking of those who broke their own hearts in exchange for the wholesomeness of ours._

_It should be clear by now that I'm dedicating this speech in memory to the heroes of Konoha, of the Shinobi World. But I'm not talking about the heroes who had their names etched onto the war memorials and into the people's hearts. I'm talking about a different kind of heroes. They gave up their lives for the better good of the world, too. But they will never be acknowledged for their deeds._

_In fact, they are hated upon by most. Most of you whisper their names with so much hatred, and your children will never look up to them. They are the S-ranked missing-nins, the Akatsuki, the rogue ones. They are the so-called criminals. But what right do we have to call them that? We don't know their stories. Nobody will ever know their stories, for almost none of them stand alive today, and the few who do are either missing or under heavy guard. But I have gathered bits and pieces from here and there, and I saw with my own eyes how some "criminals" gave up everything to protect Konoha._

_As the Hokage, I would like to remind everyone that crime is not, and will never be justified. Many criminals were selfish individuals and do not deserve redemption. But some people did what they did because they believed it was right, because they believed they could exchange their own lives for the safety of many other individuals. That should not be considered crime. They killed and robbed and sinned because they believed they had to, and many of them were right. It is their sacrifice that has brought us the peace we enjoy today._

_I understand that you may never believe me, but before you express your discontentment, I'd like you to consider what I have to say._

_Hear for yourself today, the unbiased story of the unsung heroes, and maybe your mindset will change. We call them criminals to identify ourselves with, to secretly envy and stoutly punish. They did for us the forbidden and illegal things we secretly wished to do, but had no courage to. They are the scapegoats of our sins. They are the people who were bold enough to follow what their hearts told them to do. They ventured down the dark path to seek for the light, even though they knew it would someday cost them their lives. They not only believed in a better world, they searched for it, and they've achieved it, though they knew they would never live to see it._

_We call them criminals, but at the end of the day, we are the real sinners. They killed, they tortured, true that. But how many of you shinobi here have never spilled any blood? You believe that those you exterminated were the ones who were wrong, the ones who stood in the way of a better tomorrow. But they believed the same thing. They are just the same as us, if not greater, for they knew they would never be honoured, yet still went down the unbeaten path._

_They made mistakes. But don't we all? We accuse them of having no moral foundations. But we are wrong. We are all wrong._

* * *

The sky was as dark when it began as it was when it ended.

A cloaked figure left the gates of Suna early one morning, while the sun was still low beyond the horizon, and hurried its way across the sand dunes that guarded the hidden country of the wind. By noon the blaring desert sun would be too harsh for anyone not used to the Suna heat to cross, and the cloaked shinobi had no time to spare. The Hokage had sent his words, and they were urgent.

"The boy is now a shinobi. Your help is needed. Come back immediately."

The message was short and vague, but its meaning was understood immediately, so the ninja set off at once towards the Land of the Fire.

And that was how it started, on a dark morning, amongst the dry sand and cold wind of Suna, set off by a lonely soul who had nothing much to lose.

* * *

While our cloaked shinobi was travelling across the desert, a certain blonde was, for once, not dreaming about ramen. The day marked his first as a shinobi, and he would soon find out who his team-mates and sensei were. How he longed to be grouped together with the ever beautiful Sakura-chan! Maybe she would get over her childish infatuation with the emo Uchiha and fall for him instead.

The sun was just rising, but he was already dressed and ready, with his brand new forehead protector fastened. He would head to the academy early and take a long route so the villagers would be able to see the shiny piece of metal on his forehead. He would leave them all in awe!

Naruto whistled happily and cheered to himself. The good life was starting.

* * *

Four hours later, half of the morning enthusiasm had burnt out. Sakura was indeed placed in his team, but so was the stormy Sasuke Uchiha. What a mood killer! On top of that, their sensei was more than three hours late.

Bored, Naruto slotted a blackboard eraser between the sliding door and its frame. If the sensei's reflex was as off-track as his sense of time, they would surely have something to laugh at.

Sakura snorted. "A Jounin isn't going to fall for that."

Just then, the door slid open, and the eraser dropped straight onto the poor ninja who had poked his head through. Speak of the devil.

Naruto burst out laughing while Sakura looked horrified - he was their teacher for kami's sake!

'Sensei! It was all Naruto's fault! Sasuke-kun and I didn't do anything wrong!"

The white-haired ninja sighed. Did these kids not know anything about a first impression? That jinchuuriki seemed extremely hard to handle. The pink-haired girl was overly enthusiastic. And the black-haired boy must be the last Uchiha. The jounin sighed again. His job just got a thousand times harder.

"Seems like I'm unfortunate enough to get you lot. But I'll let the eraser incident go since it's the first day. Let's start by introducing ourselves. We can share our likes, dislikes, dreams and goals. Pretty much anything you would like to share."

"But you! You are three hours late!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at his new sensei.

"Well, I was lost on the path of life. Since no one seems willing to start the introduction, I'll do it." The Jounin leaned lazily against the door and adjusted his forehead protector which fell across his left eye. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. Jounin. I like certain things, dislike certain things, have a few dreams, and... Well, I don't feel like telling you guys about my goals."

The three genins raised their eyebrows. The masked ninja had told them nothing but his name and rank. What kind of mysterious dude did they get as their sensei?

Sakura went next. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like a certain someone," she glanced at Sasuke and blushed, "and dislike Naruto. My dream is to make that certain someone like me and my goal is pretty much the same thing."

This time it was Kakashi's turn to raise his eyebrows. Somebody's got boy issues.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen! But I dislike the three minutes it takes for the ramen to cook. My goal is to become the Hokage someday and earn the respect of the people!"

Kakashi nodded and hid the small smile that was forming on his face. This was not the first time he had heard of the jinchuuriki's ambitious goal. It was understandable, living through a childhood as horrible as Naruto's, orphaned, alienated and ignored by the villagers. It was no wonder that he yearned for their acknowledgement.

Sasuke went last. He spoke in an emotionless monotone with an emotionless face, but Kakashi could easily make out the venom of hatred in his speech. "I am Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike quite a lot of things, and I don't really like anything. I'm not sure if this is considered a goal or a dream, but I wish to kill someone and revive my clan someday."

Something about the boy seemed odd. Maybe it was the intense amount of hatred he held at such a young age, maybe it was the fact that his sole purpose of living was revenge. It wasn't very healthy. Kakashi sighed. He was going to need all the help he could get handling these three kids. Fortunately, the Hokage had already sent words to Suna. Help would arrive by the next day.

_She_ would arrive by the next day.

"Alright, that's all for our introductions. Tomorrow, we will begin your official training. Meet me at the forest clearing by six in the morning. Don't be late." Kakashi rubbed his chin. "And it's advised that you skip breakfast. You are dismissed."

With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto's mouth was hanging open in awe. Sakura rolled her eyes and turned to talk to Sasuke, only to realise that he had already left the room. Annoyed, she left as well.

Naruto sat down alone and smiled to himself. Kakashi sensei seemed like a really cool guy, despite his horrible sense of time. Someday, he would become a jounin too, then he would do something great for the village and become a hero. Everyone would love him!

One day, he would be Hokage.

He closed his eyes and drifted off into a happy daydream about the day he would become Hokage. He would stand before the village and give a speech about how he achieved his dreams. Everyone would be inspired to pursue their dreams and Konoha would reach even greater heights.

Nine years later, Naruto's dream came true. And he did inspire many that day, standing in front of Konoha, speaking of the lost dreams of the lost shinobis.

* * *

Our cloaked figure arrived at Konohagakure around midnight. Three years had passed, yet little had changed. The streets were lined with familiar shops, and the ninja could make out the dark silhouette of the Hokage's office building in the distance.

It was late and most villagers had retired for the night. The village was dark. Street lamps cast eerie shadows on the dusty roads. The ninja strolled through the streets, reliving the memories from three years back. The academy, the taunts, the whispers and finger-pointing, the sneers from the mothers, the sense of never belonging anywhere, the crave for attention, the Hokage's request and the days of living hell that followed...

There was a gasp, and the ninja turned towards the source of the sound. It was a woman. She didn't seem familiar, but she was probably one of the mothers in the crowd back in the academy days, whispering venomous words, shielding her kids and dragging them away.

The woman backed away slowly, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear and disapproval. _Why did you come back? We're so much better off with you gone! Konoha doesn't need you._

The memories came flooding back._ You don't belong here. You'll never belong here. You don't belong anywhere. You are a just stranger. Get away from my kid, child! _

It had been three years, but nothing had changed.

* * *

**End of Chapter One**

Author's space

So how do you guys feel about this? It was a spur of the moment idea and it sort of developed into this novella in the making.

Do review and give me some constructive feedback! Don't forget to keep the favourites and follows coming in, too!

Love,

Queen of Peasants


	2. Chapter 2 - Come Back Home

_Editing this mess almost three years post writing it is a pain in the ass. But the reviews you guys give take away all the pain, really._

**Chapter 2 - Come Back Home**

* * *

Sasuke woke up to yet another lonely day. Four years had passed since the massacre of his whole clan, and the incident had left a deep hole in his soul. His chest felt hollow, as if he no longer had a beating heart. Not that it mattered much. A heart would not help him get his revenge. It would only slow him down. Being a Uchiha, he had been taught since young to hide all feelings and emotions, and the killing of his clan at the hands of his own brother had further destroyed the spark that once glowed in him.

He washed up and started to prepare breakfast, only to remember Kakashi-sensei's parting words from the previous day. _"It's advised that you skip breakfast."_

Sasuke gulped. To be honest, he was extremely nervous, though he would ever admit that. Kakashi-sensei was well-known for sending his students packing on the first day. Apparently they had to pass some sort of test that no one has ever passed.

Sasuke placed his utensils back to where they came from. He sighed. The day ahead would be a challenging one indeed.

* * *

He arrived at the forest clearing to find Naruto asleep under the shades of a tree. The blonde boy was snoring loudly and drooling from the corners of his mouth. Definitely not an image fit for a ninja.

That idiot.

Sakura and Kakashi-sensei were no where in sight. The latter was probably caught once again on the path of life, and the first was most still preparing for the day. It was early, after all. Sasuke grabbed a kunai out of his pouch, took aim, and threw the weapon. It hit a nearby wooden post right in the spot he was aiming for. Sasuke smirked. He never missed, especially since he had learnt the trick from... From _him_.

_"Nii-san, you have to teach me that! I want to throw weapons like you too!"_

_"Of course. Someday. When you grow bigger and stronger."_

_He_ had laughed and ruffled Sasuke's hair. And then he had placed a gentle hand behind Sasuke's back and guided him out of the training grounds.

That same hand would soon hold the katana that took the lives of his parents. Their parents.

Sasuke's hands shook. He threw his hands around his head and closed his eyes, waiting for the tears that had formed to disappear. He wouldn't cry. A Uchiha wouldn't cry.

When he regained his composure, the kunai he had thrown was no longer stuck to the pole. Sasuke blinked. Had his throw been so weak that the weapon had fallen to the ground? No, it was not there either. How could this be?

Naruto was still snoring in his sleep. Who could have taken his kunai? He tensed. Now that he was alert, he could feel someone's chakra around. And it wasn't just anyone's chakra. It was strong, pulsing through the air all around him and radiating danger. Sasuke slowly backed into a fighting stance. This was no good.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke hissed when a blob of pink known as Sakura attached herself onto his shoulders. When he finally managed to shake her off, all traces of the mysterious chakra were gone.

Where the heck was his kunai, then? He frowned and tried to think, but Sakura had once again grabbed onto him, and Sasuke was forced to give the matter some rest while trying to shake her off.

_He better get his kunai back. It was pretty expensive._

* * *

Kakashi stepped out of his door near noon and stretched, content with his morning reading. He felt sort of guilty towards the three rookie ninjas he had left waiting, but his slow morning routine of sleeping in, a slow breakfast, and a few chapters of his favourite book was too hard to break. Ever since he left the ANBU forces, the past few months have been extremely comfortable for him. No missions to worry about, no rookies to train - the perfect life of a lazy bachelor.

He hummed happily to himself, and reached into his pocket for the keys to lock the front door.

"Kakashi-senpai. Long time no see."

Kakashi froze. That voice. How could he forget? It almost seemed like yesterday when he had found the letter for the Hokage lying on his front porch steps. A letter of apology and farewell. He was there when the Hokage read it out to the ANBU leaders and village elders.

_"Forgive me for the short term of service, but I have things to do and places to visit. Unless urgent situations which require my abilities and only my abilities arise, I will not be coming back."_

No, it couldn't be.

He turned around slowly, afraid of what he would see. And what he saw scared him indeed. There she was, the same eyes, the same smile. She hadn't changed much. But something was different. Very different. She looked so tired. So very, very tired.

Way too tired than a twelve-year old could ever be, even if this twelve-year old was born a prodigy, and had received the best training Konoha could ever offer since the day she stepped into the academy.

"Are you at a lost of words, Kakashi-senpai?" She smiled. But her eyes - they weren't smiling.

He briefly thought back to the times when she used to call him onii-chan and wondered whether he should call her Ryuuko or Usui. He decided on the prior. These three years had been a mystery. Some had seen her briefly, always at different places with different people. It was rumoured that she was on a journey to find her family. Some said that she had left to strengthen her mysterious kekkei genkai. Kakashi didn't know what to believe. The Ryuuko Usui he knew would never abandon her country for such selfish motives, and her somewhat betrayal had shaken him to the core. But he didn't want her to feel any more uncomfortable than she already was by being too formal.

"Ryuuko. Welcome back. It's good to see you." He gave her the biggest smile he could manage, careful not to mention the past three years though he was dying to know where she had been.

She relaxed a little. "It's nice to see you too, senpai. The Hokage has informed me that the rookie nins have been teamed up yesterday. I assume your test is today?"

Kakashi nodded, feeling a little sad at the walls that had built up so suddenly between the two of them. The new-found formality was suffocating.

"It seems that you are already late. Let's head there now, shall we?" Ryuuko mentioned to the main road. Her gestures were painfully cautious and polite. What had happened between them? The girl who used to be a sister to him was no longer there, replaced by an emotionless, broken shell. Kakashi's heart ached.

His hands shook as he bent to pick up the keys. She tilted her head, the way she always did whenever she noticed something wrong about him. But this time, she didn't ask why.

She knew why. But she couldn't help it. The girl inside was tired. She had grown up too fast, an old soul trapped within a child's body. Circumstances had taken away her childhood, what was supposed to be the happiest, most care-free time of her life. Ryuuko's true nature was forced into hiding, perhaps forever.

The pair set off towards the main road. An awkward silence ensued, and Kakashi decided to take this time to observe the girl next to him. She had grown much taller since her academy days, and also lost a significant amount of baby fats. The cuteness three years ago was replaced by an emerging beauty, and Kakashi wondered for a moment if she could be a distraction to his two male ninjas. He quickly dismissed the idea though. Naruto was obsessed over Sakura. And Sasuke didn't seem extremely interested in females at the moment. Hell, maybe he was never interested in the female gender, maybe he had a secret crush on Naruto.

Kakashi shook his head in horror. Where was his mind going? He turned his gaze back to Ryuuko.

Her hair was so much longer now, cascading down to the small of her back in wavy curls. It used to be a bob, and she would complain about sweaty strands sticking to her neck during missions. She was such an adorable kid and he missed ruffling her dark hair and lifting her up to his shoulders. Not like he could do that any more. At her age it would probably be considered inappropriate. They weren't related by blood after all.

She had changed the way she dressed, too. Gone was the borrowed shinobi attire from the Hokage's office, and in its place a long black cloak. The buttons were left loose and Kakashi could glimpse the dark mesh and bandages underneath. He also noted with slight horror the strong resemblance between her cloak and the ones donned by the Akatsuki. It was pretty much the same, just without the red clouds.

Again, he thought about the influence she had been exposed to during the last three years. He had not been there to shield her from the harsh world and he wanted to punch himself hard for that. He had not been there when she needed him most, though she would never admit that she'll ever need anyone.

"Senpai, we have reached the training grounds."

Kakashi quickly brought himself out of his reverie, but what greeted him made him cringe. Naruto and Sasuke were rolling around the ground, beating the crap out of each other. He faintly heard one of them shout something about a kunai. Sakura looked on from under a tree, too horrified to stop them.

What a bunch of idiots.

Kakashi turned to Ryuuko and smiled. He was going to need all the help he could get. And when she surprised him by smiling back - still not a real smile - but a smile regardless, he couldn't help but feel like they were a team again.

After three long years, Ryuuko Usui had found her way back home.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 2**

I'm super sorry for the long wait and the slightly short update! Interesting bits coming up soon. :) Do review! Let me know if you like this story! More reviews equal to more frequent updates. I promise!

Love,

Queen of Peasants.


	3. Chapter 3 - Black and Gold

Thanks to Kenzie605, kanna-yamamoto, B.A. Serenity and Sassi15 for the follow! Also thanks to B.A. Serenity for the reviews! Oh my god I was so happy to read them :')

I'm really sorry for this late update, my dear readers. But this is a pretty important chapter. And I've edited this fifteen times. Hope you like it!

*Edited this after three years. Never really realised how bad my grammar was.

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Black and Gold**

* * *

_Dear Naruto,_

_I would be gone by the time you read this. To another world or to another place, I do not know. But I do know that there are a lot of things between us that have not been said, and I need to let them out._

_When I first met you, I hated you guts. You were the obstacle between me and my future. I had to go back to Konoha for you. I had to give up my search for my family just for you. And you were really just a nobody. A silly blonde boy with nothing but a monster inside his body. And I had to stick by you all the time because I was the only thing that could prevent that monster from becoming you. __It was annoying. Very. _

_Like I always say, I'm a free agent. I dislike being confined to one country, and I hate being confined to one person. _

_But you were good to me, so very good to me even though I was so very undeserving. It confused me at first, the way my shell was breaking apart piece by piece. Slowly at first, then all at once. You started to figure out my secrets by then. I expected you to push me away. But you didn't. You continued to be good to me. You showed me the love no one other than Kakashi has ever bothered to show me, and I decided to not push you away the way I did with everyone else. You were like a baby brother. So cute, so reckless. I've grown to love taking care of you._

_Naruto, we are so very much alike. You understood how it felt to be alone, how it felt to be rejected and unloved. You went through it, and you understood me. I've never had anyone I could relate to, and it's nice to finally have someone so very similar close by so I didn't have to go through what fate had cruelly brought upon me alone._

_The world was never fair to anyone. Everyone - Kakashi, Sasuke, you and me, even Sakura - we've all had our fair share of misfortune. I'm glad you helped me see that. I've been wallowing in self-pity for so long, any bit longer would probably have dragged me down a road of self-destruction. All my life I have been told to use my gift to save you, and I really hated you for that. Funny how it was you who saved me in the end._

_But Sasuke, he never had anyone to save him. His hatred is going to kill him someday. His revenge is going to cost him his life. You two are best friends, yet my presence deprived him of you. This guilt is too much. I cannot just stand by and watch him destroy himself. __I need to get him back before this guilt eats me inside out._

_Please ask Hokage-sama to forgive me for breaking the deal yet again. I might come back in a few days, maybe a few years, maybe never. I don't know. I can never be as brave as you are. We're too different. You probably won't ever understand this, and you might never want to forgive me for this, but just know that this is for the best. The ninja world deserves a peaceful future._

_I just hope that we would still be fighting for the same side the next time we meet. Having to fight you would be the death of me, I swear. _

_Take care of yourself. Take care of Team 7 too. And Kakashi. God, that Kakashi. Remind him to eat breakfast and hide his porn. Maintain a good relationship with Kurama, and always remember that you are not a monster._

_Thank you for being a brother, Naruto. I really, really care for you. This world needs heroes. You are the bravest person I've ever met, so give this world what it needs. _

_Goodbye. Let's meet in a better future._

_Ryuuko Usui_

His hands shook. Ryuuko's letter fluttered to the ground like a broken butterfly and landed in a muddy puddle. The ink began to smudge, bit by bit, turning the neat rows of kanji into ugly, black patches.

Naruto sank to his knees and screamed. First Sasuke, now Ryuuko. His true friends were disappearing fast. Things were back to the way they were, and there he was thinking he'd never have to live in solitude again. Loneliness, cared for and loved by no one.

Inside his heart, the old scars ripped open.

* * *

**A Year Ago**

Naruto was having a very pleasant dream about a ramen feast. He was at an awesome looking dining hall with the longest table he had ever seen. Ramen of different varieties and flavours stretched before him, steaming hot and smelling delicious.

Best dream ever.

He had just dug into the nearest bowl when he felt a pair of very angry eyes on him. Startled, he looked up. Standing before him and looking very pissed was none other than Sasuke Uchiha, his mortal enemy.

Naruto was very annoyed. What right did Sasuke have to be here? He was already stealing the ladies. Now he's after the ramen too. Tossing his bowl aside, Naruto threw an angry punch at the Uchiha boy.

Something didn't feel right when his fist connected with Sasuke's chin. It was just a dream right? But his chin felt so real! Naruto poked the boy's cheek and felt a hard glare pierce into his skull. Damn, even that glare felt real.

And then he woke up. A very real Sasuke was staring down at him with a very dark look on his face. Naruto gasped and tried to pull himself away from the fuming raven-haired boy, but Sasuke was faster. Soon the boys were a blur of black and orange rolling around on the ground, shouting obscenities and occasionally grunting in pain.

Sakura stood by, not knowing what to do. She suddenly regret getting Sasuke to check on the sleeping Naruto. It felt like a good idea then since it gave her an opportunity to talk to Sasuke and avoid touching the blonde brat, but their sensei was coming and it would be terrible to have him walk into a fight. Trying to separate them would seem very futile at the moment. And Sasuke-kun! Idiot Naruto was hurting her Sasuke-kun! She was horrified. Should she scream?

Just then, the boys stopped beating the hell out of each other. Sakura looked up to see Kakashi-sensei standing in the middle of the forest clearing. Finally! There was a girl beside him. A newcomer to the team? Would she be in the way of winning Sasuke-kun's heart? Sakura tilted her head and regarded the girl. Nah. Nothing much. The girl was such a plain and mousy little thing. Pink would always better than the boring dark colour of the girl's mane. Her eyes were nothing much too. There were so many girls around with brown eyes. Sakura was very proud of her own emerald ones. They have gotten her quite a fair bit of compliments.

Little did she know that their sensei's presence was not the reason the boys stopped their brawl. Naruto and Sasuke both felt something when Kakashi-sensei walked into the clearing with the girl. For Naruto, it was a sudden calming sensation, spreading over him and soothing every single nerve in his body, filling him with so much energy that his entire being felt recharged and brand new. He gaped at the pleasant tingle that was spreading through him, surprised that he has never felt this way before.

Sasuke, however, felt an ominous sense of doom spread through him as alarm bells began tolling in his head. That chakra! This was the chakra that he had sensed earlier on when his kunai was stolen. So it was this girl? But she didn't look much older than him and to have such a strong and unique flow of chakra at this age was down right impossible!

Sasuke knew then that this girl was something on another level. Even for a child prodigy, chakra control was hard work. This girl was strange. Dangerous, too. All that chakra cannot be hers alone. Did she have some chakra-sucking kekkai genkai? Or was she hosting some creature in her body? Sasuke shuddered.

Ryuuko noticed the significant change of expressions on the boys' faces. The blonde boy must be the jinchuuriki then. She clenched her fists and allowed more chakra to spread into the surrounding environment, amused by the look of bliss on the blonde's face. The dark-haired boy, on the other hand, was sizing her up. He looked alarmed, threatened, scared, maybe. Ryuuko recognised him. Sasuke Uchiha. That one boy who survived the Uchiha Massacre.

_Itachi's little brother. Long time no see._

She's had a few run-ins with the Uchiha senior over the years and none of them were very pleasant. He was a good senpai when she was in her junior years at the academy, but that didn't really last very long. He was kind to her, the new girl way younger than all the other students and with too strong a chakra source to control. The other kids were jealous of her, taunted her and bullied her because she could do things they couldn't. He didn't.

But he changed. People change. She just didn't expect him to change that much.

Ryuuko sighed. Itachi. She'd have to kill him someday. He knew too much about her history, knew too much about her upbringing. He knew what she did for a living, and for that alone he should not be allowed to live.

Could she really bring herself to kill him though?

She shook her head, urging the unpleasant thoughts to fade away. Kakashi had called for the young nins to assemble by his side, so she turned her attention to them instead. Sasuke and the pink-haired girl were tall and strong, the perfect build for a typical Konoha ninja. The blonde boy was not as mighty in size though. He was hardly taller than her, and she was already petite for her age.

He was different. The one that didn't fit in. Just like her.

Kakashi placed a large, warm hand on her shoulder. "Hey guys, I hope you didn't take breakfast. This is Ryuuko. She is... She's my sister, and the Hokage has assigned her to this team to help me help you."

The three rookies raised their eyebrows. Kakashi had a sister? But they looked so different from one another. The girl before them was hardly as tall as Naruto. She couldn't be much older than them.

Ryuuko was also in shock. Sister? She had drifted apart from Kakashi over the years, and to have him call her sister caused a fuzzy feeling to settle in her chest.

"Ryuuko here is a highly trained shinobi. She may be your age, but that doesn't mean you can disrespect her. Ryuuko's abilities definitely surpass yours. She earned her rank fair and square. I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other. Ryuuko, why don't you introduce yourself? Tell them your likes, dislikes, dreams and stuff."

Sakura snorted when Kakashi mentioned that the new girl's abilities surpassed her peers. She sure didn't look like it. Just another lucky so-called prodigy born with a tad more chakra than the average ninja. And she was as ugly as Ino-pig.

The snort didn't go unnoticed by Ryuuko. Despite her annoyance at the red head, her confidence level was dropping fast by the second. Even Kakashi's approving looks seemed to have lost their calming prowess. After a few deep breaths, she finaly mustered the courage to speak. _Come on Ryuuko, you are here to help them!_

"My name is Ryuuko. I er... I'm not very interesting so I'm not going to bore you guys with details about my life. My dream is to have all the countries coexist in harmony, no war and no killing, I guess. I used to train under one of the village elders, but he passed away a few days ago. I'm going to be sticking around Ka... my brother for a while. Nice to meet you guys."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. They both knew that was not why she was here. The boy was the reason she was here. But of course she couldn't have told them that since the Hokage had banned anyone from mentioning Naruto's true identity, hoping that it would be better to cope when the boy finds out by himself.

"You!" Naruto pointed a finger at Ryuuko, "What's so special about you that you get to have your own sensei when we have to spend so many years in the academy? I want a sensei too! Then he can train me to become the next Hokage!"

The blonde ninja was glaring at her with apparent jealousy. Ryuuko opened her mouth but no words would come out. Just how was she supposed to answer the kid's question when her entire self introduction was a lie? To tell them the truth was out of the question. Her last three years were spent at rather shady places doing rather shady things, literally.

Kakashi felt the girl tense and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Ryuuko here is very smart. The Hatake genes never disappoint."

Ryuuko wanted to tell Kakashi that if she did have the Hatake genes she'd look as stupid as he did with droopy eyes and bushy white hair, but decided to play the part of the nice little sister. She looked up at Kakashi and grinned, making sure that he saw the murderous glint in her eyes. Out of all the possible fake relationships they could have, why did his dumb brain decide on sister? Not only did they look like polar opposites, with her dark features and his silver hair, they'd also never be able to explain their vast differences in ninjutsu techniques should one of his students ask.

Idiot. He'd pay for it later.

Meanwhile, Kakashi went on to explain the rules of the test the rookie nins are going to take. The bell test. The last known team to pass said test was the great Sannin. Ryuuko smirked. Maybe if the team fails Hokage-sama would put the boy back into the academy and let her go back to her little journey of self-discovery.

"Hey you!" The blonde boy was calling her again. What was his name? Nasoto? Wait, it was Naruto. Yes, that Naruto in Jiraiya-sama's book.

"I have a name, you know."

"Okay! Ryuuko-chan! How is your power like? What type of jutsu do you use?"

Ryuuko shuddered. This was not something she wanted to discuss. She wanted to tell him off for asking, but remembering that she was the same age as them, she decided to keep her tone neutral and polite, "you'll see later, during the test."

Kakashi took over again, going through the details of the test. Boring stuff she could memorise by heart. Ryuuko zoned out for a bit, looking at the three rookies before her and doing her own character profiling. The hardship she faced as a child taught her to judge people, and she was very good at it. This way she would know who to stick close to and who to avoid.

Be nice to all, but trust only a few. It was the only way to avoid getting hurt. Her young heart has been torn too many times to be whole again.

There was a commotion, and Ryuuko looked up just in time to see Naruto being thrown out of the forest clearing by Kakashi's One Thousand Year of Pain. Idiots, she thought with a smile. Just then, Kakashi pushed a bell into her palm and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Sakura and Sasuke charged towards her, and Ryuuko barely had time to channel her chakra into the ground below and disappear into the earth before two kunai clashed where her body once was.

Ryuuko smiled. The test had begun.

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**Thank you guys so much for the reviews and the follows! Much love 3 Do give me some feedback! I need to know how the story's going. Looking for a beta too so inbox me if you're interested!**

**Next chapter will be the bell test. Look out for it. Lots of interesting things happening. You will also find out some crucial details about Ryuuko's background.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Family

_I have another Sasuke/OC fanfic ongoing on another account. Should I move it over here? They have pretty similar themes though. I was so sure I'd never be able to finish this story two years ago that I couldn't even bear to look at it so I created another account. Good lord! This really shows that things can really be done if you put your heart into it. Anyways I really need to thank those of you who stuck around! Really sorry for the long wait man._

This chapted is going to be relatively disappointing and strange. Some of you are not going to like Ryuuko very much at the moment because she is confusing and because she has only about ten words of interaction with Sasuke, but do keep in mind that their relationship is going to take time to progress. They're only twelve, after all. Ryuuko had some disturbing past that would soon be revealed, and she's going to be pretty normal soon. Also, this is not going to be a Kakashi-centric story. He's just important in this chapter for some back story that's coming later.

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**Chapter 4 - Family**

Kakashi sighed from his spot deep within the soil. The kids were too busy fighting among themselves to actually put some effort into searching for the bells. Annoying little bunch. Did they not see the aim of this exercise at all? He wondered how Ryuuko was doing. She had concealed her chakra so well that he could barely sense it. Damn, should have told her to make it easier for the kids. Dumb little rascals.

Oh wait, Ryuuko was the same age as the rascals. Old soul, that one. Sometimes Kakashi forgets that she was only a child. The girl's seen too many unpleasant things to be able to act her age, especially with so much burden on her shoulders.

He sighed again. Naruto was moving closer. The kid was talking to himself way too loudly, not to mention that he didn't care to conceal himself at all. Kakashi counted to three before conjuring up a shadow clone to deal with the blonde boy. Which harmless yet painful technique should he use? Naruto had to learn how to behave like a proper ninja since whatever the academy taught him didn't seem to be effective. But another thousand years of pain, and Naruto would probably not be able to sit on the toilet bowl for a week.

Kakashi was beginning to get bored. He could hear his shadow clone getting verbally harassed by the brat somewhere above ground. The insults were quite funny. But still, the kid needed to be taught a lesson. Kakashi was pretty sure he wasn't a "perverted porno addict". Okay, maybe that one was half true, but he definitely wasn't old enough to be called "an old fat lazy uncle", and he definitely wasn't reading his sexual stories because he was "deprived and lonely". Naruto was clearly asking for another anus poke, and he was so going to get it.

The shadow clone charged towards Naruto, its fingers aimed at his behind. Kakashi waited for the howl of pain that was soon to come, satisfied that it would soon be one down for the kids. Maybe Ryuuko had taken out one of the others by now. Sasuke was probably tougher to handle, but Sakura seemed like an easy target. With her hot temper, she'd probably have seeked out Ryuuko on her own. That meant only Sasuke was left. Kakashi smirked. Maybe he really could send this bunch back to the academy. These kids were clearly not ready. Without any teamwork and full of themselves, how can they ever dream of becoming skilled shinobi with their big attitudes?

Kakashi's clone was fast approaching poor unsuspecting Naruto who was still going on about Kakashi's less than desirable habits. The jounin shook his head. Poor kid got to say goodbye to his butt for the next couple days.

Naruto finally turned, having sensed something moving towards his backside. His mouth dropped open, and his legs shuffled in a largely unsuccessful attempt at running away. So close, so close. The kid was screwed.

And then the clone disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a puff of smoke. Oh, that and a single gold senbon.

What the hell...?

Sasuke jumped down from a tree nearby. Kakashi could not for the life of him understand why the most selfish kid in his team had decided to offer a helping hand to Naruto, whom he seemed to hate. But then he sensed the chakra coming off the kid and realised that it was not Sasuke at all. Put that special chakra together with the golden senbon and you get...

Ryuuko.

Smart kid. Kakashi himself had planned to confound the rascals by transforming into one of them. Now Ryuuko had done it for him. Naruto was now gaping at Ryuuko-Sasuke in a mixture of awe and confusion. Ha, time to sit back and watch the show.

"Sa-Sasuke?"

"Yes?"

"Did you just...? You know... Save me?" The blonde kid was looking pretty skeptical. Kakashi also noticed that one of his hands was still covering his butt hole.

Ryuuko-Sasuke snorted. It was a pretty un-Sasuke move considering the quiet and stony vibe the Uchiha tended to give off, but Ryuuko hardly knew the boy, so her bad acting could be excused.

"Of course I saved you. You're so useless. Do you really want to end up with no lunch? I'd rather let Sakura lose than you, to be honest. You're annoying, but she's insufferable."

Naruto looked deeply offended. "Don't be mean to Sakura-chan! Even if I get a bell, I think I'll still give my food to Sakura."

Kakashi was pretty happy with that reply. Sure, petty childhood infatuation wasn't really the teamwork he was looking for, but the willingness to sacrifice himself for someone he cared about was still kind of touching.

"And why is that?" Ryuuko was really talking too much and asking too many questions for the usually quiet Sasuke who seemed to lack an interest in anything that did not relate to murdering Itachi. But Naruto didn't seem to notice anything. Oh well.

"Because I like Sakura-chan!"

"Really? She's really not much, though. I think you should like someone else instead. Someone like me."

Oh, Ryuuko.

Naruto was confused. "But you're a guy."

"What's wrong with liking a guy like me? I think I'm really handsome."

Oh no, Ryuuko. Kakashi never knew she had that side to her. Poor Sasuke was in for so much trouble. Maybe Naruto would confront him about this encounter later. Kakashi really wanted to witness that exchange.

Naruto was silent, so Ryuuko-Sasuke continued. "I think you're really handsome, too! If you end up with no bell, I'd let you eat my food. There shouldn't be any teammate left behind. Kakashi-sensei would want us to help each other, anyway."

Ryuuko just gave the kid a huge clue as to what the real purpose of the test was. Looking at the bewildered expression on Naruto's face, it seemed like he was paying much more attention to the part about Sasuke's man-crush on him than the part about leaving no teammate behind. Not wanting to leave the blonde boy feeling sexually confused, Kakashi knew it was time to step in. He shot out of the ground, grabbed Ryuuko-Sasuke around the waist, and left a very disoriented Naruto rooted to the ground.

He brought to a small clearing out of the test area where he knew the kids wouldn't look. Looking at a Sasuke with Ryuuko's facial expressions was extremely disturbing, so he waited until she had dropped the transformation jutsu before talking to her.

"You had fun back there."

"Yup, I had fun."

"You told that kid to share food. Now they're definitely going to pass."

Ryuuko grinned up at him. "He doesn't seem smart enough to remember that. Besides, I got him really confused."

Kakashi hadn't seen that grin in a while. It was a pretty darn good achievement, getting Ryuuko to give him a real smile. He didn't know what she went through during her three years of self-discovery, but whatever it was didn't seem pretty at all. He thought about the young girl he helped train. She used to laugh all the time. He wanted that Ryuuko back.

"Do you really hate Sasuke that much?"

"I don't hate him. He gave off an odd vibe though. He's too dark for my liking. Looked too much like his brother, too. How did you know it was me t first? I thought I concealed the chakra quite well."

"I trained you. I'd recognise your chakra anywhere. You still need to work on concealing it, by the way. Any jounin could probably sense you from a mile away. And there isn't another ninja out there who uses golden senbon. Sasuke is an orphan. He won't have the money to spurge on gold weapon."

Ryuuko gave him a long look. "You forget that I'm an orphan too."

And suddenly the mood was entirely different.

"How many times must I tell you that you're never an orphan when you have me?"

She looked away. "That was before."

A wall seemed to have erected itself between Kakashi and Ryuuko, and the light-haired man felt a slight annoyance creeping over him.

"We can still be like before!" Kakashi was getting exasperated. "I've never talked this much in three years to anyone else, Ryuuko. You're my sister."

"Senpai, you've been a shinobi for much longer than I have, so you should know that people in our profession change with every single loss we experience." She looked right into the one eye he didn't cover with his mask, and he could almost sense the dread that would come with her next words.

"Besides, you haven't had a family since your father offed himself."

Kakashi fought down the overwhelming anger with thoughts of sake and icha-icha, but still couldn't prevent his hands from shaking. That was a very low blow. He had to remind himself that Ryuuko would never say anything like that to him. They were practically family before, and they would still be family when she got over this teenage angst phase.

"Why are you trying to provoke me? You didn't mean that, did you?"

She snorted, her face a perfect emotionless mask. "I did. People change, you know. I learnt things through a lot of losses, and I don't want to lose anymore than I've already lost."

Kakashi was silent. He would later realise that Ryuuko had probably manipulated his moods with her special abilities, but in that moment he could only feel annoyance and hurt build up to an uncontrollable degree.

Ryuuko continued, "you yourself should know what it's like to lose things. You know why I'm here, and you should know that I can't have anything destroy my mission. Don't you have a test to run?"

She took off when he didn't offer a reply, and throughout the rest of the test she was back to the stoic, quiet Ryuuko she was when he first saw her earlier that day, even as she tackled Sakura into unconsciousness and tried very hard to force Sasuke's sharingan out.

She was dangerous. She changed. She didn't even bother to help when the genins threatened Kakashi with the ending of Icha-Icha in order to get the bell. She never spoke another word to any of them again, not when Sasuke and Sakura decided to feed Naruto, thus successfully passing the test, and definitely not when Kakashi asked her if she wanted to go for ramen with the team. She simply ignored him.

Ryuuko had became very strange.

Later that night, Kakashi contemplated Ryuuko's very strange transition from stoic and polite to playful and almost normal to downright manipulative, and briefly wondered if she had developed some sort of split personality disorder from severe trauma. She was harboring too many secrets and too many emotional wounds she didn't want the world to see. He wondered if they would ever be a family again.

Kakashi thought back to when he was around her age, when he lost his best friend and the girl he loved at his own hands, and he kind of realised what Ryuuko was trying to do. She thought that she could prevent herself from losing things and people she loved by cutting herself off from them. But she was only twelve, and even for a mature twelve year old, how much could she really understand about the world without someone there to guide her?

He decided then that he'd help her recover from whatever pain she was suffering from. She was special, she was light in a world so dark, and because of that she was precious. The ninja world could not afford for her to be tempted by the evils of the world.

The Hokage had asked him to protect her and nurture her all those years ago. He would live up to that request.

Later that night, when he decided to check on her through her hotel window despite feeling like a giant creep and found her sobbing and screaming and thrashing around, he took her into his arms all the same and held her until her sobs were reduced to sleepy whimpers. He spent the entire night on the cold hard wooden floor of her hotel room without sake and without icha icha but it was worth it because she was all that he had left. Because he was tired of losing, too. Because he would prove to her that she didn't need to push people away to save herself from the pain of losing.

Because love didn't work that way.

Because they were family.

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_I didn't have time to spell-check this. For those of you who're disappointed about the lack of actions during the bell test, fell free to let me know and tell me how I can improve by leaving a review! Thanks!_


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